Page 5 - August 2019
P. 5
George Weetaltuk, Ann’s grandfather, founded the
community of Cape Hope Island in the 1920’s; it was the
most southern Inuit settlement in Canada until 1960
when the community was moved to Kuujjuarapik, QC by
the Canadian government. Due to Nunaaluk’s relatively
southern location compared to other Inuit communities
it shared a unique relationship with the Cree
communities surrounding it.
The Story of Canada’s
First Indigenous Flight Attendant
By Aine Dolin
Ann Weetaltuk became Canada’s first Indigenous
flight attendant when she was hired by Manitoba-
based TransAir in 1958. Ann made a habit of breaking
boundaries, both as a woman and as a person of Members of Wetaluk family pose beside one of George Weetaltuk’s
indigenous ancestry, throughout her long and varied schooners on Cape Hope Island (Nunaaluk), c.1943.
(HBCA, 1987/363-E-230/1-122)
career. Some of our readers may even remember
flying with Weetaltuk on TransAir Mainline flights Weetaltuk’s family lived among and shared traditional
between Winnipeg, Churchill, and Montreal. knowledge including hunting methods and language with
Cree families. Weetaltuk’s brother Eddie Weetaltuk
describes one cross-cultural encounter upon the family’s
arrival to East Main in his autobiography From the
Tundra to the Trenches, “All eyes were on Mother for
they had never seen an ‘amauti’, the parka worn by
Eskimo women. Apparently, no Eskimo woman had ever
set foot on that part of the Cree territory. Everyone was
amazed to see the way mother was carrying baby Ann on
her back inside the parka’s hood that we call ‘amuat’.”
(Weetaltuk, 2017, p. 20). This experience gave Ann the
opportunity to learn Cree, which she spoke fluently
along with Inuktitut, French and English, forming an
invaluable skill in her later work as both a stewardess
flying in northern communities, and later working for the
Quebec government.
Weetaltuk attended a catholic school at Fort George
which was run and operated by the Oblate Fathers and
Grey Nuns. Weetaltuk’s two older brothers had chosen
to attend this school before her and with the permission
of their parents; while we do not know if Ann shared the
Anniapik Weetaltuk in TransAir Stewardess Uniform, 1958. (Aircraft & same experience, Eddie Weetaltuk described his school
Airport Magazine, October, 1958)
experience at Fort George in his autobiography as
Anniapik Weetaltuk was born on Cape Hope Island, or difficult but a generally positive experience where he
Nunaaluk, in James Bay in 1935. was not denied the opportunity to engage in his own
culture or spend time with his family.
